Shopping cart braking apparatus

Abstract

This invention relates generally to devices designed to prevent removal of shopping carts from parking lots of supermarkets. More specifically it relates to a device which incorporates a specially designed wheel which cooperates with a specific surface configuration so as to provide braking of shopping carts when removal thereof from area immediately adjacent to the store, namely a slanted wheel cooperating with slanted raised paved surfaces to cause said wheel to swivel a maximum of 90° about an axis perpendicular to the rotational axis of the wheel thus preventing such rotation.

I claim: 
     
       1. A shopping cart braking apparatus comprising: a. a shopping cart having swivel wheels,   b. sloped opposing surfaces spaced having a gradually increasing angle of incidence proceeding along the length of said surfaces, which engage said wheels, whereby said sloped surfaces cause said wheels to swivel into a position transverse to the direction of motion of the shopping cart thereby braking the same.   
     
     
       2. A shopping cart braking apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sloped surfaces further comprise: a. opposing surfaces which lie on convergent longitudinal axis.   
     
     
       3. A shopping cart braking apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which further comprises: a. a non-opposing sloped surface contiguous to each of said sloped surfaces.   
     
     
       4. A shopping cart braking apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said swivel wheels have slanted sides thereon. 
     
     
       5. A shopping cart braking apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said slanted sides form an angle with the horizontal less than that formed by the sloped surface. 
     
     
       6. A shopping cart braking apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said angle of incidence increases from less than that of said slanted sides to greater than the angle of said slanted sides. 
     
     
       7. A shopping cart braking apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said sloped surfaces further comprise: a. a circular inner sloped surface, and   b. a circular outer sloped surface contiguous to said inner surface.   
     
     
       8. A shopping cart braking system comprising: a. a shopping cart having swivel wheels;   b. sloped surface members adapted for receiving said wheels; and   c. slanted sides of said wheels having an angular incident less than the slope of said surface members.   
     
     
       9. A shopping cart braking apparatus comprising: a. slanted surface members spaced apart and having (1) slanted opposing inner sides and   (2) slanted outer sides contiguous therewith;     b. a conventional shopping cart having a plurality of swivel wheels and in which said wheels have: (1) a central flat cylindrical member, and   (2) a partial connical member depending from at least one side of said cylindrical member.     
     
     
       10. A shopping cart braking system as described in claim 8 wherein said sloped surface members are spaced a distance apart less than the distance between said swivel wheels along at least a part of their length. 
     
     
       11. A shopping cart braking system as described in claim 9 wherein at least two of said swivel wheels are spaced apart a distance equal to the distance between said slanted sides along at least a portion of said sides.